On Jan 23, lamble@aurora.cc.monash.edu.au (Mr Stuart Lamble) wrote:
> Yes, Lars, I read your long rant, and it got me to thinking
> about possible solutions for dselect's user interface. :)
> Bear in mind that all my comments are strictly IMESHO. :)
> The main basis for this discussion is that dselect at the
> moment is:
>
> 1) unwieldy: you have to scroll through a large number of
> packages when installing.
> 2) unfriendly: it makes dependancy checks _every time_
> you select a package.
>
> My proposal is that 2) would be solved by checking for
> dependancies, suggestions, and recommendations at the end
> of package selection.
[etc...about resolving dependencies, etc]
I mostly like this... Someone said they like current behaviour,
because otherwise you could end up with huge list in the
depencdency resolving screen. I think this could mostly be
solved better, more explicit grouping, which should come
out of the depencency tree builder. (I may be talking out
of my hat here, too, so if I'm wrong, feel free to say
so :-) ).
However, something that has been bothering me is that most
people seem to believe we need a replacement for dselect,
or more accurately, a replacement for the selection tool
in dselect. I disagree. I think we need an *alternative*.
Something that lets you select big chunks, like "everything
I need and probably want for TeX", or X11, or whatever.
But the existing dselect interface, while it could certainly
be improved (starting with on exit dependency checking) is a power
user's power tool: lots of info, lots of options. I used to curse
it, but after living with it for while, and actually learning
to understand what it's doing, I don't want to give it up.
The existing dselect structure (access, update, select, install,
configure, remove) is not bad, and I don't see why we can't just
add an alternative select module.
Steve Greenland
--
The Mole - I think, therefore I scream
"Honey, this is GREAT coffee."
[Harrison Ford in _Witness_]
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